Free Composition is a treatise by Heinrich Schenker

Heinrich Schenker

Heinrich Schenker was a music theorist, best known for his approach to musical analysis, now usually called Schenkerian analysis....

, and possibly Schenker's best known work. The third volume of New Musical Theories and Fantasies (preceded by Harmony

Harmony (Schenker)

Harmony is a book published in 1906 by Heinrich Schenker. It is the first installment of Schenker's three-volume treatise on music theory entitled New Musical Theories and Fantasies; the others are Counterpoint and Free Composition...

 and Counterpoint

Counterpoint (Schenker)

Counterpoint is the second volume of Heinrich Schenker's New Musical Theories and Fantasies . It is divided into two "Books", the first published in 1910, and the second in 1922.The subject matter of the work is species counterpoint, also referred to as "strict counterpoint"...

), it was first published posthumously in 1935.

Free Composition aims to present a complete and systematic outline of Schenker's mature theory

Theory

The English word theory was derived from a technical term in Ancient Greek philosophy. The word theoria, , meant "a looking at, viewing, beholding", and referring to contemplation or speculation, as opposed to action...

, relying heavily on his previous writings. It is divided into three parts, dealing respectively with background, middleground, and foreground levels of structure.